Design Your Life with Vince Frost

Internationally recognized designer Kevin Finn discusses the impact of design on business, sustainability, and branding. He shares insights on working with Edward de Bono, authenticity in interviews, and how impactful design equals business return. Finn's career journey and design philosophy reflect the importance of mindset, creative work, and the intersection of design and business in creating impactful brands.

To Cat Burgess, energy is everything. It’s how you inspire the people around you, and it’s how you align your personal resources to the things you need to get done in work and life. She believes we need to move away from the idea of managing time, and into an era of managing your energy, focused on bringing the right energy to the right moment.  Cat is a highly skilled industry leader and brand strategist with more than 30 years’ experience at the forefront of design, branding and communications. She’s worked with Vince Frost for close to two decades, and in her current role as Head of Place at Frost*collective she is passionate about the transformational power of design thinking in shaping places.   She credits her decisiveness and ability to structure ideas into powerful brands to her start as a television journalist. And her appreciation of design to growing up in a house designed by prominent Australian architect Philip Cox, surrounded by ideas, with an artist mother who went to China on cultural exchanges in the 1980s and is still a practicing artist at the age of 90.  Cat has recently been announced as the new AGDA (Australian Graphic Design Association) NSW Chair, making her the first woman to lead the largest chapter of the Australian communication design industry’s peak body. A sought-after speaker, she’s an advocate for women in leadership positions in the design community and beyond.  Listen in as Vince and Cat discuss managing and making the most of your creative energy, being in the business of opportunity and originality, and how good design can lead to cultural transformation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Music has a powerful impact on our emotions, and can amplify what we're experiencing in a way we’re often not aware of. When watching a film, sometimes we don’t perceive the music, but it's there. Impacting our emotions. Elevating our feelings. Music can help set the scene for a time period. And when you really know your stuff, you can make the audience tingle by allowing a hip-hop beat to invade the world of Elvis.  Anton Monsted is Head of Music at Amazon Original Movies and has worked with some of the biggest names in music and film including Herbie Hancock, Jay-Z and George Doering. But he’s most famous for his work with Australian director Baz Luhrmann, who he most recently collaborated with on the hit biographical music drama Elvis.  Monsted’s career trajectory is almost the stuff of movies, he was the boyfriend with time on his hands on the set of Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet in 1996. When he realised there was a place for him there, he set about advertising himself internally while painting the walls. Before long Baz asked him to put down the paint brush and pick up a research folder. He became Leonardo DiCaprio’s assistant on the shoot, got involved in the music, and his path began to unfold, leading to his first Music Supervisor credit on Moulin Rouge! all while in his early 20s.  Listen in as Vince and Anton discuss translating 1920s jazz into hip hop with Jay-Z, why listening to music is like being in the company of an old friend and designing music to guide an emotional response.  Anton's Spotify playlists:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jq8MQrr4kE9hLeBxsKVRi?si=5049970f8f50494e https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6rDWdtbFDXXcmjE1ejzn0T?si=54ab5efde6c54676 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5HDyNVBazSvCbFEAd6VgI6?si=5475e73e3e51411a https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1YbHA0Wm2TxJOww4DZXfdp?si=462ca069b75e49a0 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6r5f4eN4wjZ6MnrRNF2m2x?si=5761b563f0ed4f2b https://open.spotify.com/playlist/72EpYQvlrUXpmR4mNgudXC?si=d034930a3bf24589See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How does scent impact our mood and mind? Why is it important to design for all the senses? And what do you do when you realised you’ve designed a life you no longer want?  As a partner in the world’s largest law firm, Craig Andrade was living the life he’d aways dreamed of. Or was he? It was during a candle-making class he’d decided to take on a whim he realised the transformative power of scent and his deep spiritual connection to fragrance.  From the moment on, Craig’s life changed - he’s now a perfumer with a highly-successful artisanal luxury fragrance house. He’s passionate about sharing Australia’s extraordinary botanical heritage and specialises in natural botanical fragrances using often-unknown and unused Australian native scents.  Listen in as Vince and Craig discuss designing for all the senses, finding the strength to make brave life changes, and the Frost*Chapters tri-layer candle they have created together.  Visit Frost*shop to shop the collaboration. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do the mind, body and emotions work? How can we fine tune them for dynamic activity in today’s overstimulating world? And how does a rugby-playing beer-drinking agricultural economist become a meditation guru?    Tim Brown has been called Australia’s most experienced Vedic Meditation teacher and has taught over 6,000 people to meditate over the past 20 years. He learnt the craft from Thom Knoles, who is credited as the first Westerner to be inducted by a great Indian guru.    From children as young as five years old to elite athletes and corporates, he has proven anyone can benefit from the calm, clarity, creativity and energy that comes from meditating. In fact, he believes it can help us solve some of the huge challenges facing our world.    Listen in as Vince and Tim discuss a time of life-changing reflection in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan aged just 24, the incredible neuroscience behind the power of meditation, and how un-overwhelm-ability will change your life. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing up with a dynamic, upbeat and straight-talking New York City businessman for a father is one thing. Building a career as a highly successful no-nonsense creative business consultant is another. But the two are most certainly intertwined.    Emily Cohen is the author of Brutally Honest, a book of, ‘no bullshit strategies to evolve your creative businesses’. She’s also a business consultant who has successfully partnered with over 500 leading creative firms worldwide to help them become more effective, profitable and fun to work with.    She confesses she’s not a great designer, but she’s proven she’s an excellent connector and industry advocate, and campaigns endlessly for the value of the profession of design.    Listen in as Vince and Emily Cohen discuss knowing when your work is adding value to the world, solving clients' problems, and the value the business of design can bring.    https://emilycohen.com/  https://nobs.events/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What role does design have to play in creating a successful and liveable world for future generations? And how does life-centred design come into this equation?    Bruce Mau is a globally recognised and awarded designer and innovator. He’s spent the past three decades funnelling his energy into projects that contribute to a better world including designing; a sustainability platform for Coca Cola, a social movement platform for Guatemala, and an institute for entrepreneurial designers.    Mau is also the Co-founder alongside his life partner Bisi Williams and CEO of Massive Change Network, an organisation dedicated to working with leaders to envision an abundant future and accelerate massive, sustainable change and positive impact for organisations and the planet.    His life-centred design approach is grounded in the belief that people are just one part of our larger ecosystem and environment, and everything we do as humans has implications for the health of our planet. Economic, ecological, environmental and social consequences are given the same weight and consideration in the design process.    Listen in as Vince and Bruce discuss growing up in Canada, starting their careers at Pentagram London, and the social responsibility of using design as a force for good. Watch the video of their chat here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lct6W9okxts  https://www.massivechangenetwork.com/  https://www.unsw.edu.au/arts-design-architecture/engage-with-us/innovation-hub/massive-action-sydney  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us grow up with a basic understanding of Greenpeace and the work they do. But being aware of the organisation's first ‘creative confrontation’ happening close to home as a child is a fairly unique experience. And watching a life path unfold into a position of power in how the ‘peace’ in Greenpeace plays out in today’s fragile world? That could be considered a calling.    David Ritter is the CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific where he works to achieve the company’s mission of securing an Earth capable of nurturing life in all of its magnificent diversity.    It wasn’t a straight trajectory for Ritter. He describes his childhood as informed by, “a narrative of depletion”, and his career path via a law degree as, “a lack of imagination”. But now, he’s certain he’s in the right place.    Listen in as Vince and David discuss the impacts of growing up a child of a refugee, how the historic Mabo decision has impacted his life, and why we all have a world-changing superpower. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sustainability, equality, and connection to country in contemporary Australian architecture are often spoken about. Commonly they’re thought of as nice add-ons. But shouldn’t they be integral to the design process, right from the start?  Adam Haddow is a globally recognised architect, and Director at SJB, one of the most highly regarded architecture practices in Australia. He has and continues to play a major role in designing the future of Sydney, and particularly loves taking on projects he can walk to from his studio in Surry Hills. Adam describes himself a context-based architect and is interested in designing buildings to fit in with the fabric of their environment. Recognised as a thought-leader in mixed-use design, his buildings embody ambitions of beauty, delight, joy and surprise.  Listen in as Vince and Adam discuss sustainability and connection to country in architecture, thinking in three dimensions, and knowing he wanted to be an architect at age six.  This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at Paramount House in Sydney to celebrate the launch the new brand the team at Frost*collective designed for Eco Outdoor.  https://www.ecooutdoor.com.au/  https://sjb.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All creatives suffer from some level of self-doubt, imposter syndrome or lack of inspiration. It’s unavoidable. The good news is, it’s possible to harness our feelings of inadequacy and turn them into something useful.  Richard Holman is a creative, author and speaker who believes creativity is one of the most valuable qualities humans have. He’s dedicated the past few decades to helping people feel more confident creatively, so they can come up with better ideas.  After 20 years working on brands such as the BBC, Discovery and National Geographic, he now spends his time coaching, hosting masterclasses, speaking, writing and podcasting to inspire creativity. In his recently published book, ‘Creative Demons and How to Slay Them’, he does just this.  In this second episode in our Fit-ish series Vince and Maria Briganti, Creative Director of Frost*collective’s Environments team, chat with Richard about all things creative. Tune in as they discuss why it’s best to delay evaluation and continue with creation, how bad ideas can lead to places of originality and hacks for the most common creative demons. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.